Cheap Indian Eats at Milon

My friends rave about Indian food, and while I've never tried it, my friends suggested we go to a fantastic Indian restaurant on the lower east side before our friend Adam's show at Pianos. The restaurant was hard to miss because of its bright Christmas and decorative lights inside the restaurant that shined so brightly you could see it a block away! Located on 1st between 5th and 6th Avenues, the restaurant was a teeny tiny walk up called Milon. Although the place was small, it was completely packed! The lights completely flooded the ceiling of the restaurant, so much so, that even I at 5' 3" had to duck so the lights wouldn't hit me in the face! The six of us started off with three orders of assorted appetizers (at $2.75 per order). The appetizer can with one samose, two piaza, and two banana pakora.
I learned a samose is a meat and potato "fritter," a piaza is a vegetable fritter, and the pakora is a fried banana fritter. They were all fried yet tasty in their flavors. We also ordered three orders of nan ($1.50 per order) which is a flat pita bread that comes in either regular or garlic. The bread was a great accessory to our entrees. Before I left my roommate told me to try the tandoori, so I tried the shrimp tandoori ($8.95). It came out sizzling in a metal pan and was served hot on my plate. The shrimp was a bright colored red which scared me because I am not big on very spicy foods. However, the shrimp had a kick, but tasted very flagrant without being too spicy. I would definitely recommend it to someone who hasn't had Indian food before. We told the waiters it was our friend Ashley's birthday (although I must admit we fibbed a bit) the waiter came out with small dishes of mango ice cream for each of us! All the light overhead turned off expect for a big disco ball light that lit up to the music of an Indian version of "Happy Birthday." Overall, our bill left us only paying $14 each! Incredible.
The best thing about this restaurant beside the atmosphere and food is that it is a bring your own booze restaurant! Our friend stopped at Trader's Joe's beforehand and bought six bottle of their "two buck Chuck" (okay, three in the city) bottles of wine. Therefore we got sloshed before the show and had our stomachs filled for the cheap. A side note: if you're really claustrophobic this place might not be suitable for you. It is very, almost too cozy but the cheap eats really makes up for it. So go out to the LES, grab some Indian food, and check out some cool bars and venues in the area. Or even better, you can check out my friend Adam (also known as Saul Ashby) on myspace and listen to some of his sweet jams.

Until next time, happy eating!

Bianca

First Kiwi Bar, Eh? New Zealand Food at Nelson Blue

A family friend of mine has been opening various restaurants around New York City for years, but when she told us about her latest restaurant opening, we were a bit shocked and confused. She mentioned is was called Nelson Blue, and it served New Zealand food. Whenever I hear of New Zealand, the first thing that comes to mind is my favorite HBO show, Flight of the Conchords in which two New Zealanders flock to New York City to gain popularity for their band, but I never heard of a New Zealand restaurant. My mom, a friend, and I had to check it out.

Nelson Blue, located on 235 Front Street is actually the first New Zealand, or as the natives like to call it, "kiwi bar" to exist in Manhattan. The bar regularly shows rugby games, the most popular sport in New Zealand. Surprisingly, the food was not very foreign, and thei signature kebabs were amazing. Nelson Blue is considered mostly a wine bar, but with lots of small plates to share and nibble on. Due to technological errors, my camera punked out before I got to document these tasty treats, so I will try to depict their deliciousness by words.

The wine was great at only $8 a glass, and the atmosphere was very warm and inviting. Since the restaurant is located in Southstreet Seaport, the restaurant was very sea decorative with a wooden ship hanging above a long table and long wooden benches that accompanied the tables. Since we wanted to try a bunch of different items on the menu, we ordered a bunch of appetizers, sides, and of course, the kebabs. We ordered the popcorn shrimp with remoulade sauce ($12) which was sized well for the three of us, and the popcorn shrimp crunchy yet fresh tasting. We mix and matched a bunch of skewers (who wouldn't at only $4 per kebab?). The salmon with curry mayo kebab practically melted in our mouth, the chicken with spicy peanut sauce kebab had a great peanut buttery flavor, and the shrimp kebab with lemon herb mayo was delicious. The dipping sauces really made the kebabs, as well as our side order of french fries with herb salt ($4) where the herb mayo mixed great with the fries.

We also heard great things about the five spiced crushed cauliflower ($4) so we had to order it. The flavors were great and the cauliflower texture was reminiscent of mashed potatoes. With ordering 6 kebabs, 2 side orders, an appetizer, wine, and a $6 chocolate flower cake for my roommate, the bill came to $70! A great suggestion would be to head over to Southstreet Seaport ASAP to try to fare and also because Southstreet has great holiday festivities for Christmas.

Go to Southstreet Seaport for the weekends, and you can see their treelighting celebration and the Big Apple Chorus sing christmas songs in front of the tree. They play 45 minute shows at 6 and 7 pm on Fridays, and 3 and 4 pm on Saturdays and Sundays.

Be sure to catch a Christmas chorus show, go Christmas shopping in the Southstreet Seaport mall, and eat up all the New Zealand grub you can handle!

Until next time, happy eating!

Bianca